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Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, Egypt

Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, Egypt

New Valley Governorate Egypt Temple Egypt Sandstone Sphinx Restoration KSE 100 KSE 300 KSE 300 HV Restoration Mortar ZF RM ZF Restoration Mortar RM N Funcosil SL Silicone Resin Paint LA Color LA Historic Lime Spatula CL Fill Q3 Historic Injection Resin 100 IR Epoxy EP Resin Antihygro KSE OH Mortuary Temple

About 3500 years ago Hatshepsut raised herself to the position of ruler and built the monumental "Temple of Millions of Years" at Deir el Bahari. The building is completely built of fine sandstone and consists of several terraces and sphinx figures.

After the death of the pharaoh, her successor had all traces removed, destroyed statues and scraped the name from the inscriptions. However, the traces of 3500 years were still visible on the building. Due to earthquakes, rock demolitions, fires etc. the temple consisted of a lot of rubble. Thankfully, the essential stock was not irreparably destroyed and the reconstruction was possible with modern materials.

Reference identification data
Construction project:
Facade restoration Other Facade restoration / natural stone
Building type:
Historically protected / historically valuable buildings
Other buildings
Short description
The fragments of the building showed different weathering and strength profiles due to the long period of weathering. These had to be compensated by different stone strengtheners. In addition, the chemical processes within the limestone were blocked, thereby preventing future absorption of water and dirt. The leveling of the fragments was also an important point in order to achieve a uniform appearance. Shattered relief blocks had to be glued together. Some of the limestone showed pronounced swelling and shrinking due to swellable clay minerals. This process had to be stopped. As there were no completely preserved Sphinx figures within the structure of the building, during the restoration process up to six complete figures were reconstructed from the many fragments.
Site address:
New Valley Governorate
Data sheet:
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Date / completion:
2011
Can the work be viewed?
No

Sample of products or systems used

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Further references

The structure showed cracks in some places, for which there were different causes. Improved statics and higher load capacity were achieved by stiffening the structures, frictional connection of the disturbed foundation and decoupling the components gate, passage hall and gate houses components. Particularly on the western side, intense blackening of the rock surface had built up, which was strongly interlocked with the ground. The deposits were composed of a mixture of soot and plaster. The cleaning process carried out in 1990 with the help of water could only result in a superficial cleaning. In 2002, the newly developed method of particle beam cleaning and cleaning by laser made it possible to remove soot and plaster without destroying the original surface.
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On the façade surfaces of Kaispeicher A, there was a lot of efflorescence and lime aging, both signs of penetrating moisture. The damage patterns indicated a lack of frost resistance as well as no protection against driving rain. The listed façade required extensive frost and moisture protection, but was not allowed to undergo any visual changes.
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